


The Setup

by thatrandomnpc



Series: MadaTobi Week 2018 [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen, M/M, Team Tobirama, mostly Kagami's perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 03:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15525525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatrandomnpc/pseuds/thatrandomnpc
Summary: “You do, in essence, live with Uchiha-sama,” Danzo comments neutrally, though his distaste for Madara is as obvious as always, “Lay Hiruzen’s delusion to rest before he begins to obsess.”Kagami opens his mouth to protest that he does, in fact, keep his own apartment… that he rarely uses, save to store a few belongings and hobble back to when he prefers Madara and Tobirama not to know that he’s bypassed the hospital for bed. He closes it to reconsider.Satisfaction colors Saru’s smirk. He elbows Danzo, “See? Even Kagami can’t deny it.”





	The Setup

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for all of the lovely comments and kudos on the MadaTobi week stories so far! Trust me! They mean a ton to me, especially this week! You all are amazing! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

“They’re clearly attracted,” Saru announces, mid-mock battle, as Saru is wont to do.

Homura curls his nose as though he’s swallowed something sour. Distracted as he is, he barely dodges Torifu’s attack from the trees. With the most precise chakra control of the three of them, he _should_ have been the best equipped in their trio to take on an Akimichi. He and Kagami had, after all, agreed to be somewhat lenient on the younger half of the team today. They _are_ all still recovering from the exams and recent promotion to chuunin.

Judging by the particularly vicious strike Kagami blocks, Danzo doesn’t especially appreciate his and Torifu’s generosity.

“It’s clearly physical, if anything,” Danzo seethes, “And _none of_ _our concern_.”

Koharu swats Saru on the back of the head in solidarity with Danzo as she darts by. She settles next to him as soon as he catches his footing after Kagami drives him back with the threat of fire. Apparently those two have decided to take this seriously. Shame Kagami still hasn’t quite managed to convince Tobirama to fully teach him to make one-handed seals yet. He _has_ been working through the progressively more intense control exercises Tobirama assigns, so he's hopeful.     

For the time being, however, activates his Sharingan instead.

Naturally, that concession is a balm to Danzo’s injured pride.

“I’m serious!” Saru declares, miraculously falling into a last-minute dodge as Torifu takes another round at them, “I know what I saw.” Saru is fast, but nothing quite like sensei or even Kagami; it’s his coordination and reflexes that are particularly incredible when combined with his ninjutsu. They sometimes tease him for more than a little resembling a monkey when he’s particularly flustered or off guard.

By the time Saru manages to regain distance from Torifu, Kagami is fully engaged with his own two terrors. _“No_ , Saru,” Koharu seethes, forming handseals that mean nothing good, _“Enough_." Kagami copies them automatically, even if it means working around the hilt of his sword.

Ah. A doton. A new one, evidently.

Danzo uses the cover by the clashing techniques to spring his own trap. Clever, but still not quite fast enough. Kagami smiles cheerfully and substitutes out of the clones’ ambush.

...directly into the actual trap, it seems. He pauses on instinct at the feel of even a chakra-dulled dummy blade edged precariously against the back of his neck.

Koharu nods her approval at Danzo, who lowers the blade when it’s clear Kagami is lifting his hands to surrender rather than turn out a trick he hasn’t thought of yet.

A resounding _thump_ signals that Team Homura and Saru have officially lost to Torifu, whose face is in the midst of doing something complicated and vaguely disturbed. “Saru…” he sighs, “Is it _really_ important to meddle in sensei’s love life?”

“When he asks why you were so distracted in training,” Koharu warns in an icy fury that is frankly a bit too familiar for comfort, _“you_ will have to be the one to tell him.”

Kagami snorts. He’s reasonably sure the last person to inquire after sensei’s bachelor status was Hashirama-sama year ago, and even _he_ knows better than to try his luck at that hand again.

“Lie, Saru,” Homura suggests grimly, “and elope with Biwako to Wind Country.”

Naturally Saru chooses this as the moment to turn to Kagami, who would rather not entertain the subject in general within the span of this lifetime. “Kagami,” he addresses with the veneer of gravitas, “ _you_ surely agree with me.”

Kagami blinks, confused. “Me?”

That… is apparently license for others to pause in consideration. Danzo, ever the pragmatist, is willing to consider anything with credible evidence. Even Homura’s interest seems peaked.

Clearly, were he wiser, Kagami would have simply put his damnable curiosity to bed and denied whatever it is Saru thinks he sees. They could be moving to dinner as planned. Kagami is very fond of that particular ritual.

_(Part of him still doesn’t quite know what to do with the abundance and daily assurance of resources, even now. He was eleven when the Warring States Era--apparently what they’re calling the formative years of his life now--came to a close. He’s just past sixteen now, and he still can’t quite force himself into this new mindset in some primal ways. The Uchiha had still been a clan bound tightly by hardship and grief. None of their own went hungrier than the rest, and yet…_

_Kagami is one of the few who knows the truth: much longer, and Uchiha resources would’ve began to dwindle noticeably without a powerful outsider clan like the Uzumaki backing them._ _They hadn’t suffered hunger, but the fear of it impending in the near future had been a terrifying thing_. _)_

“You do, in essence, live with Uchiha-sama,” Danzo comments neutrally, though his distaste for Madara is as obvious as always, “Lay Hiruzen’s delusion to rest before he begins to obsess.”

Kagami opens his mouth to protest that he does, in fact, keep his own apartment… that he rarely uses, save to store a few belongings and hobble back to when he prefers Madara and Tobirama not to know that he’s bypassed the hospital for bed. He closes it to reconsider.

Satisfaction colors Saru’s smirk. He elbows Danzo, “See? Even Kagami can’t deny it.”

“He hasn’t confirmed it, either,” Homura points out skeptically.

Torifu sighs and, like the saint he is, moves over to rest a supportive hand on Kagami’s shoulder, “He can’t answer all of your questions if you bombard him like that.”

Kagami's head snaps to the side, mouth agape. Torifu smiles apologetically. Mischief lights his eyes. _Traitor._

“I have no idea what you mean,” Kagami answers sincerely, “If there was a change, I haven’t noticed.”

Saru sighs. He seems doubtful, but he isn’t one to argue without more ground than merely a hunch. The conversation shifts to Koharu’s new jutsu piece by piece as the others argue over which new restaurant should be the choice for dinner. Kagami… hesitates.

There is nothing new between Tobirama and Madara. He knows as much for a fact. Whatever hostilities lay between them are situational for the most part these days. That has been the way of things since Kagami has personally known them.

Torifu pats his back with an encouraging smile, “Let’s hurry before they let Danzo choose.”

Kagami laughs goodnaturedly and agrees. Danzo has notoriously _questionable_ tastes in dining establishments.

  
  


Kagami thinks little of it that evening and the following day. Tobirama has been preoccupied with business, and Madara only just returns from a mission that morning. Thus, he only observes them interacting two days after training battle.

Now that Saru has place the idea in Kagami’s head though…

Well, he _notices_ things. Small things. He’s taken them for granted because he’s simply filed away the idea that this is how Madara and Tobirama are with each other. Every relationship has its idiosyncrasies, after all. Even among their team, they have their own for different comrades. In-jokes. Shared quirks and experiences.

Watching Tobirama shift seamlessly around Madara’s kitchen while the pair of them bicker…

Well, he supposes that, from an objective standpoint, it’s awfully familiar behavior. More so that, judging by the comments on the upcoming visit from the Daimyo’s cousin, there is nothing so pressing as to justify Tobirama being there for business in the first place.

Part of the awe-struck child Kagami was has not entirely grown, he realizes, and it has colored his perceptions of these men. His own gratitude at having a place to sleep in that wasn’t sterile and impersonal--having a teacher _and_ a mentor--had apparently blinded him to the cues he looked for in anyone else. Nevermind that, given Izuna’s relation to his father, Kagami is practically an honorary nephew by all rights. It isn’t entirely uncommon among the Uchiha, taking on even distant relatives of a late friend and handing them a closer title. Instead of ‘cousin’ or ‘nephew,’ Kagami just so happened to get a fond title of ‘brat.’

Tobirama moves with the absent-minded assurance of someone who is very much aware of where the dishware and food is kept. He cooks on Madara’s stove with a striking lack of shame or hesitation. Perhaps that says little about the situation since Tobirama _is_ technically given to doing things considered socially impolite with a striking disregard on not-so-uncommon occasions.

He bats Madara’s hands away when he moves to take a pan. They bicker over the proper way to prepare something or another. Kagami’s attention is more than a little occupied by the way their shoulders brush while they move around each other. Nothing has changed. This has been Kagami’s _normal_ for nearly half a decade. He just…

He doesn’t understand how he’s missed it.

“You’re far too quiet, brat,” Madara snaps in a lull. He settles across from Kagami, apparently having given up on trying to inspire Tobirama to cooperate. The fact of the matter is that Madara is a proud, self-sufficient man, but he’s also unbelievably sluggish in the morning when he isn’t woken by some sort of threat. In all honesty, he's likely more pleased to not be cooking than he is frustrated with being usurped in his own home. 

Given the direction of his thoughts and Madara’s impossibly sharp gaze, Kagami’s flustering is likely undeniable at this point. “Am I?” he replies sheepishly, “Perhaps I’m still tired from training.”

Madara narrows his eyes suspiciously. Kagami is a teenage shinobi. He’s very good at holding his ground. “As though any of those children are a match for you,” he dismisses.

Tobirama doesn’t bother turning around to face them, “You would be surprised by what they’re capable of when they manage to think cohesively.”

They’re bickering again before Kagami has time to feel grateful for the reprieve.

He does not miss the fond, amused smirk on Madara’s face while Tobirama’s back is turned.

  
  


“...you were right,” he tells Saru, face hidden in the arms he leans against the bench of the ramen booth. Ramen, it seems, is not especially good at drowning one’s woes in.

Saru has the decency not to laugh. He pats Kagami’s back soothingly. He does not, however, have the decency to keep the mirth out of his voice, “It was familiar.”

Incredulous, Kagami tilts his head enough to peer skeptically at him. That Saru has a point, he can accept; that Saru sees any similarity between Tobirama and Madara and himself and Biwako…

Well, Kagami is not nearly as naive as he looks. Rather, he’s frequently keen to take advantage of his wide-eyed, soft looks. Very good for dodging trouble.

Saru chuckles and shrugs, though there is something oddly reflective in his eyes. “Fair enough,” he replies to Kagami’s silent dissent, “Though I can’t blame you for not realizing it. They _have_ essentially adopted you, haven’t they? Or Uchiha-sama has at least...”

Kagami’s head strikes the wooden bench with a heavy _thunk_. That is…

Saru has the nerve to ask, concerned, “Are you alright?”

“ _Saru!_ ” Kagami whines, “ _Why?_ ”

There’s a rustle of cloth. Danzo’s chakra pauses awkwardly just behind them. “Dare I ask what you’ve done this time, Hiruzen?”

“ _No_ ,” Kagami groans, pointing in the vague direction of the offending Saru, “He’s _contagious_.”

Danzo clearly has too much sense to indulge Saru by asking what, exactly, the topic is. He settles into the seat next to them and orders. “Very well, Hiruzen,” he says, “Assume for a moment that you’re correct. What do you mean to do about it?”

Kagami glances up in time to see Saru blink, as though that question had never entered his mind. In actually, it likely hadn’t. It certainly hadn’t entered _Kagami’s_ mind. Saru, for all his quirks, never answers those sorts of questions impulsively. The moment he takes to mull it over gives Kagami time to at least work on his lunch. Danzo trades him a look with a raised brow. Kagami replies in kind with a smile, shaky though it may be by the revelation that he’s chosen Madara as a parental figure.

He doesn’t… mind the idea. The opposite really. It’s only…

He feels oddly uncomfortable with the idea that Madara may not _know_ that’s the case. Like he’s done some disservice to a man he respects and cares about. Danzo frowns. It’s still somewhat uncanny how he reads people.

“Sensei hasn’t shown interest in anyone else,” Saru points out, “Neither has Uchiha-sama, that I’m aware of.”

Danzo’s eyes narrow, “Perhaps you should take Homura’s advice and flee the country after all.”

“Saru…” Kagami chimes, a touch manically, “I don’t especially like where this is going.”

Saru smiles. Kagami _knows_ that look. He’s typically the one sharing in it, after all, with a mischievous grin of his own. His sympathy toward Koharu suddenly spikes ever higher. “How long must this have been happening for you to not notice, Kagami?”

“Sensei is a grown man,” Danzo argues, “If he wanted to act on something of that nature, he would.”

“Without our help,” Kagami adds.

With a considering hum, Saru strokes his chin where he’s attempting to grow facial hair now that he’s old enough to try. The mischief has eased into thoughtfulness. That is, perhaps, an even more dangerous thing. “Would he?”

Kagami’s first instinct is to protest. Tobirama is a driven man, who is more than capable of facing his own issues. Romance, Kagami thinks, hardly even ranks in the list of severity of the daily problems he deals with. And yet…

Tobirama is notoriously guarded. He’s hesitant to allow anyone in. There is every chance that he may be the sort of person to push aside his feelings to maintain order. Contrary to Danzo’s idea from the other day, he thinks that what he’s seen is far more than just some passing appreciation for each others’ looks and strength. And Madara…

Well, Madara is hardly better than Tobirama in some respects. Though, Kagami simply can’t imagine him not pursuing his goals, even in something like this.

“Madara would,” Kagami speculates, “What would you even suggest, Saru?”

“One dinner,” Saru offers, “If I’m wrong, I will personally buy both of you lunch for a month.”

Kagami glances at the bowl of ramen. Were Saru hardly anyone else, politeness would’ve dictated he protest. He knows better than to think Saru isn’t entirely aware of the price estimate of what he’s offering, and well…

Kagami _is_ rather fond of eating for free.

“If you’re correct?” Danzo, ever cautious, asks.

Saru smiles, “Then you must help me.”

Kagami feels a distinct prickle of dread shiver down his spine.

  
  


Madara is a naturally skeptical man. Therefore Kagami feels justifiably guilty when he manages to convince Madara to follow him to dinner a week later without a single question asked. As they walk through the Konoha’s streets with the pleasant crispness of a Spring afternoon, Kagami fidgets aimlessly with the hem of his shirt

He notices Madara’s sharp gaze, but the older Uchiha says nothing until they’re seated and, for the most part, alone in the crowd. At this point, the new has very much worn off of the idea of the Uchiha clan head and his unorthodox, branch family apprentice, so no one pays them much attention. 

“You’ve been thinking about something for a while now, brat,” Madara says, dark eyes watching him. Kagami has heard talk of others finding the idea of holding Madara’s gaze intimidating. Kagami is absolutely biased, but he can’t sympathize--not when he’s learned to pick out the watchful concern.

Guilt twists like a knife in his gut. This, he thinks, is why Madara agreed with only a token complaint. He thinks something is bothering Kagami.

And well… to be frank, something _is_.

Kagami sighs and smiles, a bit sad and lopsided. He’s almost afraid to ask, if he’s being truthful--afraid of the answer he might receive. “I--”

“Kagami.”

Madara’s eyes narrow just to the left and above Kagami’s shoulder. Kagami blinks and shifts the best he can in his seat. Danzo is practically twitching with outrage, hands crossed over his chest and eyes narrowed as though Kagami is somehow to blame for… whatever happened. Tobirama is behind him, thumbing through a scroll. Kagami thinks he can make out a few symbols of fuinjutsu.

Saru is distinctly absent.

“Uh... “ Kagami replies sagely.

Danzo visibly twitches. Kagami valiantly bites his lip to subdue the bubbling laughter. Danzo _might_ do more than contemplate homicide if he laughs.

“A word, please.”

Kagami turns back to Madara, who openly rolls his eyes and waves Kagami off, “Just remember that the longer you make me wait, the more I’m going to order on your tab.”

Kagami scrambles to his feet, grabs Danzo by the shoulders, and pushes him toward the door. He doesn’t dare look back, lest sensei catch on. Only when they’re outside and carefully out of hearing range does Kagami breath a sigh of relief. “What _happened?_ ” Kagami demands, “Where’s Saru?”

“Otherwise _‘occupied,_ ’” Danzo seethes murderously.

Kagami feels a sudden sinking in his stomach, “Biwako.”

Danzo’s eyes narrow furiously, “I intend to personally strangle him.”

 _“If,_ _”_ Kagami reminds him with a nervous laugh, “we aren’t otherwise occupied running of our lives from shishou and sensei.”

Danzo breathes a slow, calming breath and nods, “A plan, then.”

Kagami does not entirely understand how he remains that calm. He would gladly trade the nervous flutter in his chest for that. “Survive dinner and take sweet revenge on Saru?”

Danzo lifts a brow, “I was under the impression that much was obvious.”

Kagami sighs and resigns himself to moving to Wind Country.

  
  


Except…

When they return, Tobirama is seated next to Madara. The latter is scowling. “-- _will_ detach your hand, too, if you refuse to put that down,” he warns.

When Tobirama refuses to part with his scroll, Madara make a half-hearted attempt at grabbing the thing. Tobirama shamelessly utilizes the full advantage of his larger height and correspondingly longer reach to shift the scroll to the side, outside of Madara’s reach. He never stops reading, even if his frown pinches distastefully.

Madara growls a furious noise and grabs Tobirama’s shoulder, using his superior physical strength to pull Tobirama back. Kagami thinks dimly that it’s perhaps the face full of unruly black hair that is Tobirama’s ultimate downfall rather than any overwhelming tactics on Madara’s behalf.

“Hiruzen was right…” comes the mutter to Kagami's right.

Well… at least he wasn’t the only one to have a minor crisis over that. There’s something to be said for solidarity, he supposes.

“This is _important_ , Senju,” Madara snaps, deftly folding up the scroll and tucking it away as Tobirama glares murderously at him. “You can put this down for half an hour.”

Apparently deciding against attempting to strangle the Uchiha clan head in public, Tobirama instead shifts his attention to the spread of food on the table. _(Kagami only whimpers a_ little _in fear for the fate of his poor, innocent wallet.)_ “Your sympathies are grievously misplaced, Uchiha,” Tobirama warns. Red eyes shift pointedly toward Kagami and Danzo, who have not moved since they entered the building.

Oh, gods.

 _He knows_.

Kagami would like to argue that he is, in fact, perfectly justified in squeaking.

Danzo’s hand pushes urgently at Kagami’s shoulder. Falling into step, Kagami swallows and reclaims his seat with all of the enthusiasm of a man walking to the gallows. Madara raises a brow as if to say _‘Are the theatrics truly necessary?_ ’

 _Yes_ , Kagami thinks a bit desperately. Also, _Madara_ , of all people, is hardly one to judge on this account.

“Forgive us,” Danzo says politely, “There was an issue from training that required clarification.”

Tobirama stares skeptically. Kagami fidgets. Danzo politely turns his attention to the food. Madara glances between the three of them with steadily increasing irritation and suspicion.

“Saru was distracted in our last training session,” Danzo announces.

Kagami’s spine stiffens. He kicks Danzo under the table.

Something shifts in Tobirama’s eyes. “Was he?” he hums, “And I suppose that was part of what you wished to discuss this evening?”

Kagami sips at his drink in a desperate bid to suppress his survival instincts telling him to flee. Tobirama _absolutely_ knows. Kagami finds he isn’t even the least bit sympathetic to Saru being thrown to the proverbial sharks, given the circumstances.

Danzo nods, seemingly entirely unphased by the scrutiny.

Madara glares but soothes his temper with the hard-won fruits of Kagami’s wallet, “Is there something you’d like to share, Senju?”

“No,” Tobirama replies, “I would _like_ to finish my work.”

Madara’s fury still manages to intimidate, even with a cutlery in hand, “And I told you this was more important.”

The bickering, at least, gives Kagami and Danzo a brief reprieve from impending doom. Alas, all good things come to an end, and Kagami is soon enough walking back out into the streets with Madara and only a shockingly reasonable sum of money lighter.

Kagami braces himself through the awkward silence, guilt twisting in his stomach like a knife each time he catches a glimpse of the irritation in Madara’s frown.

“I expected you to have better taste.”

Kagami blinks. Of all of the details of this particular catastrophe to criticize, it’s the restaurant…? “...I enjoyed the food.”

Madara sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “The _boy_ , Kagami,” he corrects. When Kagami fails to reply, Madara’s eyes fall back on him. “Of all of Tobirama’s ducklings you could’ve chosen, I would’ve prefered the Akimichi. _That_ boy, at least--”

Kagami will later feel entirely justified for squeaking _“What?!_ ”

"--has manners," Madara concludes disapprovingly at the interruption and continues on with a shrug, “Furthermore, my father and mother were wed at your age. I hardly think a sixteen-year-old requires a chaperone for dates now that we need not worry about a suitor poisoning your food or attempting to assassinate you. Granted, I suppose I can’t fault you in this instance...”

...If only he knew that jutsu that allowed one to slip innocently into the ground. Kagami would eagerly pay out the entirety of his savings for that ability.

 _“What?_ ” he croaks again. Shock has a strange way with reducing him to a one-word vocabulary.

He barely remembers the remainder of the walk home. He believes he has the vaguest impression of passing Izuna on his way to his room. And the worst part?

Kagami is now _absolutely certain_ that he has, in fact, been adopted by Madara if nothing else.

He swears to his ceiling that he is going to help Danzo hide Saru’s body in the morning.

...Assuming he can ever bring himself to look Danzo or Torifu in the face again without collapsing in a fit of embarrassment, of course.

  
  


Madara frowns as the blankets shift. The warm line of body settles in bed behind him. He lets his eyes fall shut again as an arm curls lazily around his side. Cold toes tuck in against the backs of his calves. Madara shifts enough to tuck his head under Tobirama’s chin in response, just to hear the irritated grunt before the Senju manages to gather the wild strands of hair under control.

“You’re late,” Madara complains, “Did you have trouble losing a fourteen-year-old?”

Tobirama snorts and corrects him, “Preventing Danzo from committing homicide during the night.”

“I warned Kagami to choose his dates more carefully,” Madara replies dryly.

Tobirama’s laughter is a rare thing, even now in this era of peace that has taken nearly six years to begin to trust. Madara feels an answering quirk of his lips at the low, genuinely amused chuckle behind him. “Clever,” Tobirama admits, “I assigned Danzo to inventorying the lab.”

Madara wouldn’t think much of such a punishment if he hadn’t seen Izuna’s face the afternoon after he’d foolishly offered to help Tobirama dig through his backlog of side projects and those that failed to keep his interest. Curiosity and foolish little brothers, he'd figured. _‘I have looked into the abyss, aniki,_ ’ Izuna had muttered, staring blankly at the wall, _‘And I think it had three eyes.’_

“You intend to tell them?” Madara ask curiously.

Tobirama hums thoughtfully. “No,” he replies after a moment, “Not yet. This is Saru’s hand at work, after all.”

Meaning that, if the pair with a moderate amount of tact have fared so poorly, Tobirama is curious to see what sort of catastrophe Sarutobi pulls. Amusingly underhanded. Madara suspects the boy will incriminate himself in a spectacular fashion within the week while he thinks he’s being clever.

“You’ll talk to Kagami?”

Madara settles some at the graver tone. _“We_ will talk to Kagami,” he corrects, the adds, “When he can stand to look at me again without stammering.”

That boy is sharp and quick, but his blind spots are always on those places closest to home. It isn’t that Madara forgets the insecurities and hurts bred of Kagami’s background. Rather, it sometimes frustrates him that he, who had been both a clan heir and renowned for his strength among his peers even in childhood, sometimes fails to properly judge some latent disbelief growing behind Kagami’s smiles.

Tobirama makes a lazy noise of ascent. His breathing is already deepening.

Madara relaxes and allows himself to drift toward sleep.

Then, “Cohabitation. We could avoid future iterations of this conversation.”

If Madara were a fraction less tired, he would jam an elbow behind him. They’ve talked about this--making major declarations in the aftermath of three days of little to no sleep during one of Tobirama’s projects. More than that, tired though they clearly are, there is a hint of hesitation in Tobirama’s voice. Madara wouldn’t have the slightest hint of what that meant if they hadn’t been doing this for years now. He lazily grumbles, “Hashirama will demand a wedding again. You're responsible for him." 

He falls asleep with a satisfied, tired smile pressed into his hair.


End file.
